A bright spot in Boston's 6-4 loss to New York Tuesday night, Victor Martinez drew little consolation from his own personal success.

"It would be better if we'd gotten a win,'' said the Red Sox catcher, who homered into the bullpen for two runs, and drove in another with a double.

"I just go up there and try to be a tough out.''

Martinez is 3-for-8 in the young season, with two doubles and a home run.

He saw good signs in Red Sox pitching Tuesday, even though Jon Lester allowed four runs on five hits, three walks and two hit batsmen in five innings.

"I thought he threw the ball pretty good. He did a good job,'' the catcher said.

Similarly, Martinez saw the good side in Manny Delcarmen, who allowed one hit - as well as a scorching lineout by Curtis Granderson - in a scoreless sixth.

Delcarmen's fastball topped out at 94 miles per hour, according to the radar gun. The right-hander has been consistently below the 96-97 range of past years, often by several miles per hour.

"I thought the ball came out of his hand good,'' Martinez said.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said the relationship between Martinez and the pitchers is growing, an important aspect to a team that has relied on Jason Varitek since 1999.

"Our pitchers know Victor cares,' Francona said.

"He's very open to ideas. Some veteran guys can get stubborn, but Victor does not let his ego get in the way.''

Francona said the process of learning how to handle pitchers never ends.

"Is Victor still in the learning stage? I think Tek (Varitek) is still in that stage,'' the manager said.

"I think we all are. The day you stop learning is a bad day.''

Francona said the coaching staff is pro-active in helping the pitchers and catcher succeed. But his role in helping the relationships between battery maters develop is as a monitor, more than as a constant participant, he said.

"I know it's my responsibility, but (pitching coach) John Farrell spends so much time with those guys. I actually try to stay out of the way.''